20k housing budget for Tseung Kwo O?

Hi all again...

I made it back from my look/see trip to HK last week and boy was it hot and humid. Anyways my initial 30k budget around the Quarry bay area didnt get my anything too exciting so I looked off the Island and in the Tseung Kwon O area. I must say I was pleasantly surprised with a few of the appartment complexes, namely Residence Oasis and Ocean Shores. I am now thinking about dropping my budget to 20k to see if I can get a decent sized 2/3 bedroom appartment, and allocate the remaining 10k for the 3 year old's kindi and maids salary. I realised that everything is so expensive so am now keen to definately live well within the allocated housing buidget if possible. My question is which other parts of TKO are worth investigating?> Are there any other complexes I could explore that would provide excellent value for money for under 30k and around the 20k budget range? Please let me know what your experiences have been in that area, and which ones you think are appropriate for family with small kids etc, and the need to have shops/amenities/schooling nearby! Cheers in advanc!

We lived at at OS for two years with our then 1yo daughter...the facilities there for kids are top notch (if you didn't see the clubhouse yet, have a look). Now we live in Hang Hau next door to RO and though we traded off the great clubhouse, the easy access to East Point City and more bike trails, as well as fast taxi/minibus service to Clearwater Bay beach and SaiKung more than made up for it. Coupled with the fact that the front views of OS will be a dusty moonscape of construction for the foreseeable future, the choice was easier.


You could look at Le Pointe/Metrotown (mountain/pool view) as well (I still miss the easy MTR access to 2 lines at Tiu Keng Leng) but I think you needn't look at Lohas Park, still a bit of a ghost town, with heavy industry and the upcoming cross bay bridge construction set to impact life there. And despite what some might say, the landfill can definitely reek in the right (wrong) conditions...

Also, ask about 1st floor (podium) flats in buildings without balconies...many of these (including ours) have walk out private terraces of varying sizes...nice extra, safe space for kids to do messy stuff like painting, bubbles, maybe even a small splashing pool, without leaving the house. I know Metrotown/Le Pointe have huge terraced podium flats, some overlooking the pool, as do a few others (Metro City in Po Lam, La Cite Noble in Hang Hau to name two)


Also, Hang Hau and Po Lam are equidistant to TKO Swimming Pool, with great waterslides, and Po Hong Park near Po Lam has great big play areas and grass to run on (surprisingly rare in HK...)

A note of caution about podium flats: people residing in apartments on higher floors will, from time to time, drop or throw things out of their windows.

this is true...we've had an assortment of household objects mostly clothes pins, but also used q-tips and toothpicks, dropped into our terrace, but we're installing retractable canopies (as most others have done) to help with this situation (since complaining to management has little effect...) for us the extra space for bbqing and having a small herb garden outweighs the hassle of cleaning up other rude peoples filth.

funbobby- there seems to be alot of construction at OS at the moment, which put me off, and in terms of the clubhouse facilities Residence Oasis seems to be better, I do like the idea of being near a MTR to get to Quarry Bay quickly and also need good supermarkets and amenities near by, are there any other complexes you can advise I explore around the TKO/Hang Hau area? tks!

RO better than OS facilities? Really? Admittedly I haven't seen RO's club, just a few flats. I liked OS because access to the buildings takes you through a nice park-like setting with the playgrounds...RO was more navigating the condensed podium corridors...but def. the construction will be an issue at OS for some time, getting worse before it gets better...


IMO you've seen the best the area has to offer. I'll reiterate that you should have a look at MetroTown...esp if you can get a podium flat (the poolside podiums can be huge).


Don't bother with TKO Plaza, it is really poorly designed inside. But you might want to look at Grandiose (we never did) as it LOOKS more modern in style. Again, front views are construction dominated, but pool views are nice w/balcony. The Edge Mall is not as nice as East Point City, but it has bridge access to the MTR and new mall under the hotel construction across the street. which MAY include some more shopping choices.


East Point City flats are pretty crap too, tho some top floors with terrace have views of Sai Kung...


La Cite Noble has good value, 3 min walk to MTR and GreenVille Int. Kindy on the 1st floor. Again, top floors have big rooftops with views of Sai Kung from some.